Past Meets The Present A Harry Potter tale
by RebelWithACauseToBeFree
Summary: The past meets the present in this story when the marauders, plus Lily and Snape, read the Harry Potter books with a few of our fave characters, along with my OC, Jamie Black. This is them reading the Philosopher's stone. Please R&R, maybe even favourite?
1. Chapter 1

/It was a normal day to start but, then it happened. As Harry, Ron, Hermione and Jamie were walking around the school grounds, They were suddenly transported to somewhere else. "What the bloody hell just happened?" Complained Ron as soon as they had landed. "I don bloody know." Replied Jamie, looking equally pissed off. They had just defeted Voldemort and if this was another dangerous adventure, she might scream. "Who are you?" Asked a voice from behind them. They all turned around to see Six teenagers that they had never seen before, staring back at them. "Who are you?" Replied Jamie. "Are we in the room of requirment?" Asked Harry, speaking up for the first time. "Yes, Harry, very observent of you." Jamie bit back sarcastically but, she was smiling at him. "I think we should all introduce ourselves. Yes?" Asked a girl with bright red hair that coould rival the weasleys and eyes that were exactly like Harryś. "Yes, I think thatś a good idea." Jamie replied. "This is Ron Weasley." She continued, pointing to Ron, Who waved slightly, "Hermione Granger." Jamie went on, pointing to Hermione, she just smiled. "Harry Potter." Jamie pointed to Harry and was interupted by One of the strangers. "Potter?" He asked, looking confused. "Yes, why?" Harry replied. "I´m James Potter." The other boy answered and we all stared at him in shock. "Really?" Asked Harry and James nodded. "Iḿ your son." Replied Harry. James looked stunned and so did the other five. "What do you mean, your my son?" Questioned James. "You must have been sent forward in time, or we've been sent back." Reasoned Jamie. "We never actually got your name." Said James. "Oh right. Iḿ Jamie Black. Sirius Black´s daughter." Jamie replied, to even more stunned looks. "I think maybe we should go now." Spoke up one of the other five. The others nodded so, he continued. "I´m Remus Lupin." He said and recieved nods. "That, as you know is James Potter." He pointed at James. "That is Lily Evans." He pointed to the girl who had spoken earlier. "Severus Snape." he pointed him out too. "Sirius Black." This recieved a smirk from Jamie. "And Peter Pettigrew." He finished, pointing to the last and smallest one of the group. "I´m sorry, who did you say the last one was?" Jamie asked in a dangerous voice. "Peter Pettigrew." Remus answered. Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged scared looks before grabbing hold of Jamie, just as she lunged at Peter. The six others jumped back in surprise, not expecting her to do that. "Let me go! I´m gonna kill him!" She shouted. "Jamie, calm down. Later." Harry told her calmly and she stopped struggling. "Fine." She replied, reluctantly. They let go of her and looked over at the others. "Sorry about that. Famous Black temper." Explained Harry. Jamie stepped on his foot and he groaned in pain while the other six nodded in understanding. "Hey, whatś that?" Asked Ron as he picked up the book he had spotted. "Potter and Black and the Philosopherś stone." He read off the cover. "Thatś probably why we were all sent here." Reasoned Hermione, smartly. They all nodded and Lily took the book. "Shall I read first?" She asked. Everyone nodded. "So, Chapter one?" Lily asked. Everyone nodded and she opened the book. However, before she could start reading, another two people came tumbling in. "Fred! George!" Shouted Jamie before jumping up from her spot next to Lily and pounced on the two red heads. "Hi to you too Jamie." They said tohether. After explaining what was heppening to Fred and George, along with more introductions, Lily picked up the book again.

"Chapter One."/

*"Up! Get up, now!" The raven haired girl groaned and rolled over,banging her head on the door. Swearing softly, she shook her cousin and pulled a brush off a shelf.

"Wha?" he murmured sleepily, reaching for his glasses.

"Up!" their aunt's voice screeched. Harry groaned and sat up, while Jamie struggled with a knot in her hair." *

"If I didn´t know any better, I´d say you inherited the Potter hair." Said James. Jamie smirked at him and replied: "I did." She got very confused looks from the past people. "My Mother was Michelle Potter." She explained to everyone in confusion. They all nodded and she could have sworn she heard James mumble "Explains the temper." To Sirius who laughed.

*Harry groaned but, because of his luck, his aunt heard him.

"What did you say?" She snapped.

"Nothing." Harry quickly replied while Jamie snickered at him. *

"Why are you living with Your aunt? Where are they?" Lily asked,pointing at James and Sirius while looking a little pale. "It explains it later."

*They heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan. After a while, their aunt came back. "Are you up yet?" She demanded.

"Nearly" Replied harry with yet another smirk from Jamie. *

/"You always did like picking on Harry didn´t you?" Questioned George from next to Jamie. "Oh, shut up George. You kow it´s only harmless banter between cousins." She replied. "Oh yeah, of course. So, when you got peeves to pelt him with doung bombs? That was just harmless banter between cousins?" He questioned. Jamie made cutting motions at her throat to get him to shut up but, it was too late. "You did that?"Asked Harry. "Thanks George." She said sarcastically. He just winked at her. "How did you manage to get on peeves´ good side anyway? It was the first day." Harry said incredilously. This recieved stunned looks from the marauders. She smirked and just replied with "That´s for me to know and you to never find out." With that, Lily went back to reading.

*"Well, get a move on. I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy' birthday." Jamie scoffed and rolled her eyes at this. *

"How come she didn't ask you to to do it?" Asked James. "Because, after 10 years, they had finally learnt not to get on my bad side. The last time that happened, I nearly blew up the house." Jamie replied. James and Sirius shared a look Before sighing in unison. "Michelle." They said together. "You know, you actually look a lot like her." Stated Sirius. "Yeah, I've been told. Apart from my eyes though. I have your eyes." Jamie replied. Sirius nodded. "It's like the situation with Harry really. Spitting image of James with his mothers eyes." Jamie told them. "Out of curiosity, who is your mum" Lily asked Harry. "Watch their reactions." Jamie whispered to the present day people. "That would be you, Lily flower." She said and the reactions were highly amusing. Lily froze, looking stunned, along with Remus and Peter. Sirius started laughing, James froze for a moment before his face split into a wide grin and Snape seemed to growl.

*Dudley's birthday — how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where they slept. *

/"WHAT!" Shouted the Marauders and Lily, even Snape looked a little angry.

"They made you sleep in the cupboard under the stairs?" Asked Sirius, looking a little menacing. "No, they made Harry sleep under the stairs. They were actually scared of me so, they offered me a room. I just chose to stay with Harry." Jamie explained. Lily smiled warmly at her and moved over to her, giving her a hug. She returned it straight away and when Lily let go, she was hugged by James, who then sat on the arm of her chair. Sirius was smiling proudly at her and moved to sit on the the other arm but, she got up, shoved him into the chair and sat on his lap in stead. "I´ve wanted to do this for a long time." She said, smiling at him and he returned it. "So, you´ll sit on your dad´s lap but, you wont sit on your boyfriend´s?" George asked. "I have sat on your lap. Quite a few times actually." Jamie replied. "Not really, only when your really tired or when your really worried." He countered. "Your point?" She asked. "You never just sat there because you felt like it." He explained and she rolled her eyes at him. "Woah, woah, woah." Interupted Sirius. Here we go Thought Jamie. "Boyfriend?" He asked. "Yes, I am 17 you know?" She replied. "And don´t worry. I´m sure you will approve once you´ve read all about him and how we got together. Oh, Merlin that was funny." The past people gave her odd looks while the present people laughed with her. "I´m gonna carry on reading." Said Lily and picked up the book again./

*When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen, Jamie coming up behind him. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise — unless of course it involved punching somebody.*

"That better not mean either of you." Said James. "Oh, don´t worry. He was too scared off me to hit me and if he hit Harry, I hit him. Simple as that." Jamie replied while Harry smiled over at her along with Lily and James squeezed her hand as Sirius hugged her tighter.

*Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast. Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobby knees, black hair, *

"Just like James." Commented Sirius.

*and bright green eyes. *

"With his mother´s eyes." Stated Jamie.

*He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. It was exactly the same as the one Jamie had on her forehead. She had to admit, it was pretty cool. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.

"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."

Don't ask questions — that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys, although, Jamie seemed to like annoying them with endless questions about her dad when she was in a bad mood. Or just simply thought it was funny. *

"That a girl." Said Sirius and James at the same time. Lily rolled her eyes but, you could see her trying not to smile.

*Where Harry looked like his dad with his mother´s eyes, Jamie was the opposite. She looked exactly like her mum. Long, black hair that never did what she wanted, not that she complained. She liked the messy look. *

"I like you." James told her very simply but, he was smiling very widely.

*Though, she had her father´s eyes and, they were her favourite part of her appearnce. They were a stormy gray that gave her a kind michevous look, along with a look of mystery.

Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.

"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting. *

"That wont work." James muttered to Sirius under his breath, causing him to snort.

*"That wont work." Jamie muttered to Harry under her breath, causing him to snort. *

James and Sirius stared incredilously at Jamie, while still smiling. She smirked in return and it reminded them so much of Michelle that even Snape had to look away.

*About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way — all over the place. Jamie had the same problem but, she really did like the ´just rolled out of bed´ look. *

James smiled at her while a few people raised their eyebrows.

*Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Jamie was standing behind him, ready incase he burned it. Again. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. *

"So, like a pig in a wig?" Asked James and Jamie just stared at him. "What?" He asked.

*Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel — Jamie often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig. *

"That´s what." She answered. They all looked back and forth between the two with wide eyes. "She is scarily like you and Sirius." Commented Lily. "With her mother´s temper." Mumbled George and then doged out of the way of her hand as it came swinging towards him, everybody else just laughed.

*Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.

"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year." *

"What a spoiled brat." Exclaimed Fred. "Believe me, that´s not the worst of it." Said Jamie and everybody from the past, plus Fred and George, raised their eyebrows in unison./

*"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."

"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over. *

"I´d have counted the presents before when I walked in and eaten it before he did." Said Snape. Jamie and Harry looked at him with wide eyes. "What?" He asked.

Jamie had counted the presents when she walked in the room and was already done. *

"Wow, that was weird." Commented Harry. "That was creepy." Corrected Jamie.

*Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?" *

Lily scoffed. "That´ll just make him worse." She reasoned.

*Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty… thirty…" *

"Good Godric, he can´t even count." Exclaimed James.

*"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.

"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."

Uncle Vernon chuckled.

"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.

At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.

He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.

"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take them." *

"Why does that name sound familliar?" Questioned Sirius. Everybody shrugged.

*She jerked her head in Harry and Jamie´s direction.

Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry and Jamie were left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. They hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned. *

"Did she just not bother with you?" Remus asked Jamie and she nodded.

*"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Jamie as though she´d planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again. *

"That´s not very nice Harry." Said Lily while at the same time Sirius and James said, "That a boy, Harry." Lily gave them a disapproving look and Harry just smiled.

*"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.

"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates them." The Dursleys often spoke about Harry and Jamie like this, as though the weren't there — or rather, as though they were something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug. *

"That would be kind of cool. Can you imagine the things we could do. Like a fly on the wall." Commented Fred. The Marauders laughed at him while Jamie smirked. "What are you smirking about?" George asked her. "I can already do that. Or, something like that. It´s not as good as a fly on the wall but, it is pretty cool." She replied. "What do you mean?" Asked James. Suddenly, instead of Jamie sitting on Sirius´ lap, there was a small lion cub. James fell off the arm of the chair in shock, Lily and Hermione said "Aww" and everyone else seemed to have a mixture of shocked and impressed expressions. Harry and Ron on the other hand, were smiling. They already knew. So did Hermione but, she still thought the cub was very cute and it got her everytime. Jamie changed back and was hounded by loads of questions. "How did you do that?", "Why didn´t you tell us?", "When did you do it?". In the end she just told them all to shut up. "I´m an animagus, I learnt how do do it in third year after about two months and I didn´t tell you because I dread to think what you would ask me to do." She answered Lily, the marauders and the twins. In that order. "Cool." The twins said in unison and Lily went back to the book.

*"What about what's-her-name, your friend — Yvonne?"

"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.

"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer). Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.

"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled. "I won't blow up the house," said Harry. "I´m not promissing anything." Countered Jame, but they weren't listening. *

"Okay, I stand corrected. I don´t like you." James said to Jamie, who´s face fell. "I love you." He continued and she returned his wide smile.

*"I suppose we could take them to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave him in the car…" *

"What is he, a dog?" Asked Lily. "What´s wrong with dogs?" Asked Jamie and Sirius at the same time. "Nothing, I just don´t want him to be compared to one." Answered Lily, while the marauders glanced at Jamie, wondering if she knew thier secret.

*"That car's new, they´re not sitting in it alone, knowing her, she probably will blow it up…" Jamie smirked.

Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying — it had been years since he'd really cried — but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.

"Dinky Duddydums, *

Everyone laughed. "I can´t believe she actually called him that." Exclaimed James. "That not even the worst one." Replied Harry through his laughs./

don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.

"I… don't… want… them… t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "They always sp-spoil everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. Jamie looked about ready to smack him. Just then, the doorbell rang — "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically — and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother.

Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Jamie, Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry and aside.

"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Jamie´s, she didn´t even flinch, "I'm warning you now, both of you — any funny business, anything at all — and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."

"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"

But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did. The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and Jamie and it was just no good telling the Dursleys they didn't make them happen.

Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. *

"Of course. You can´t beat the Potter hair that easily." Said James and Jamie at the sames time, causing Lily to go wide eyed. "Oh, good Godric, there´s two of them." She said, causing everyone to laugh and the two in question to glare playfully.

*He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly. *

/"They punished you for that," Lily said, temper rising again. "But it was accidental magic… Petunia would know…"

"Exactly," Harry said bitterly.

"Hm," Remus sighed crossing his arms, he didn't like being right this time./

*Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls). Jamie was lauhing the whole time. The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry.

Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished. Jamie was, however, when Petunia tried to force her into one of her old dressed and she ripped it to shreads with her bare hands. *

Everybody looked at Jamie, some smiling, some looking a little scared. "NO wonder their scared of you." Commented Remus. Jamie just shrugged.

*On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.

Everyone laughed at this.

*The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trashcans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump. *

/"Not a very clever excuse there, Harry," Sirius teased.

"Give me a break, I was like nine years old," Harry said.

"I'd perfected the art of lying by then," Sirius said proudly.

"Right, Padfoot you're the worst liar I know," Remus said with James laughing in agreement. "Jamie had perfected it though, not even I could tell whether she was lying or not." Harry proclaimed and Jamie smiled./

*Strange things often happened around Jamie as well but, she passed it off by saying she was ´just that awesome´. *

Everyone laughed again.

*She had once turned a ghastly dress that Petunia had given her to wear into a ripped, black one with buckles all over it. She was punished for 2 weeks. She had also blown up the fridge. That got her a month and they learnt not to make her too angry after that. But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.

While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Jamie, the bank, Harry and Jamie were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles. "…roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.

"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying." *

"Not a smart move Harry, it looks like you got you father's brains," Remus said.

*Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"

Dudley and Piers sniggered.

"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."

But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas. *

"Dangerous ideas? This man's an idiot." Said James.

*Though, by the look on Jamie's face, she was getting a few. *

Eyebrows were raised at said girl.

*It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry and Jamie what they wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond. Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. Jamie stayed with him with a small glare on her face to ensure that they didn't. *

"I'm sure that worked. Your glares are scary." Commented Ron.

*They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first, sharing it with Jamie. Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last. *

"Well, that doesn't sound good." Said George.

*After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.

Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.

"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.

"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away. Harry and Jamie moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. They wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least they got to visit the rest of the house. *

Jamie suddenly stiffened. How would they take the news of her being a Parselmouth? Not even George knew.

*The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Jamie's.

It winked. *

"That's creepy." Commented Fred. A look of realization suddenly crossed Remus' face and he looked at Jamie to confirm his suspicions. She nodded and he gave her a small smile but, he didn't say anything.

*Jamie stared. Then she looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. She looked back at the snake and winked, too. The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Jamie a look that said quite plainly:

"I get that all the time."

"I know," Jamie murmured through the glass, though she wasn't sure the snake could hear her. "It must be really annoying." Harry was looking at her strangely. The snake nodded vigorously. *

"Your a Parselmouth." Stated James as they all turned to look at her. She simply nodded and George got up and walked over to her. "Why didn't tell me?" He asked. "I was scared." She replied. "First year, I didn't know what it was so, I thought nothing of it. Then, second year, the way people were treating me when they found out. I was scared you'd think the same." She finished. Everyone was looking at them now, to see his reaction. He kneeled down in front of her and took her hand in his. (No, not on one knee. He aint proposing.) "I wouldn't judge for something like that. You are smart, kind, funny, incredibly beautiful-" She blushed at this. "- and something as small as being a Parselmouth couldn't over rule all of that." He finished she launched herself at him, hugging him. "Awww." Cooed Lily and Hermione causing the others to laugh. "God, when did you become so mushy?" Fred asked his twin then receiving glares from all the girls in the room plus George. George then sat back down and Jamie took a seat on his lap instead of Sirius'. "Happy now?" She asked him and he just smiled in return. "So, what about the rest of you?" She finally asked. "So what? Your a Parselmouth. That doesn't change who you are." Stated James and the others nodded vigorously."Thanks guys."

*"Where do you come from, anyway?" Jamie asked.

The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Jamie peered at it.

Boa Constrictor, Brazil.

"Was it nice there?" The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Jamie read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see — so you've never been to Brazil?" As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry and Jamie made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.

"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror. *

"Cool, what did you do?" Asked Fred, George and Sirius at the same time. Sirius and George looked at each ther while Jamie smirked and shared a glance with Hermione.

*Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. *

"Wicked." Exclaimed the three.

*The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.

As the snake slid swiftly past him, Jamie could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amiga."

The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.

"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"

The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Jamie at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Jamie was talking to it, weren't you, Jamie?". Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Jamie. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go — cupboard — stay — no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy. Jamie lay in her dark cupboard much later, wishing she had a watch. She didn't know what time it was and she couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, she couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food. They'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as they could remember, ever since they'd been babies and his parents had died in that car crash, While her''s had just disappeared. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when they strained their memories during long hours in their cupboard, they came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on their foreheads. *

"Did you two survive the killing curse?" Asked Remus in astonishment. They both nodded. "That's incredible." He said. "But, how?" Questioned Lily. "You'll find out later." Harry replied.

This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. Jamie couldn't think of where the light came from as her parents had just disappeared but, she couldn't remember her parents either. Though she could remember a bark like laugh and a big, shaggy black dog. *

A few people gave her questioning looks while the marauders smiled.

*His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house. The Dursleys were his only family, Harry was Jamie's only family as she wasn't actually related to the Dursleys. Yet sometimes the thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know them. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to them once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking them furiously if they knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at them once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken their hands in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second they tried to get a closer look.

At school, Harry had no one besides Jamie and vice versa. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang. *

/"That's awful." Said Lily. "That's the end of the chapter." She continued. "I'll read next." Said George and the people from the present gasped. "George Weasley, reading?" Said Jamie in a mock surprised voice. "Oh, shut up." He snapped but, he was smiling


	2. Chapter 2

George took the book from Lily and turned to the next chapter. "*Letters From No One*" He read. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked. "Their your Hogwarts letters, aren't they?" Asked Remus and they both nodded.

*The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry and Jamie their longest-ever punishment. By the time they were allowed out of their cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches. Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.*

"Sounds familiar." Lily teased, looking at James. He pouted a little as everyone else laughed.

*The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting. This was why Harry and Jamie spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where they could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came they would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in their lives, they wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry and Jamie, on the other hand, were going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.*

"I couldn´t care less what he thought. Piggy little git. Well, not exactly little." Commented Jamie and everyone laughed. "To be honest, I thought he was quite happy with the arrangment as well. He wouldn´t have to put up with Jamie anymore." Said Harry and norrowingly dodged a slap from his cousin while the others laughed harder.

*"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"

"No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it — it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said, Jamie going after him, laughing all the way.*

"That was a good one mate." Said Sirius through his laughs. "Yeah, that was pretty good." Commented James, messing up his son´s hair even more. Not that it made much difference.

*One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry and Jamie at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let them watch television and gave them a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years. That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.

"How the hell would that help?" Sirius said. He was ignored.

*As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry and Jamie didn't trust themselves to thought two of their ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.

There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry and Jamie went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. They went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.

"What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.

"Your new school uniform," she said.

Jamie looked in the bowl again.

"Oh," she said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."*

"Please tell me you go on to be like me in school?" Sirius asked while laughing. Jamie nodded while most other people groaned. "Although, I don't think you'll like who my second favourite teacher is." Jamie replied. She ignored the confused looks from the past people and George continued.

*"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished." Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. They sat down at the table and tried not to think about how they were going to look on thier first day at Stonewall High — like they were wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably. Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry and Jamie's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table. They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.

"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.

"Make Harry get it."

"Get the mail, Harry."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."

Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Four things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and — a letter each for Harry and Jamie.*

"Yay!" Exclaimed Sirius.

*Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives — he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:

Mr. H. Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs 4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

The other letter said the same only it had Jamie L. Black On it.*

"What's your middle name?" Asked Remus. "Lily." Jamie answered and Liliy teared up a little.

*The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink.

There was no stamp.

Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.*

"Definately Hogwarts." Commented James.

*"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.

Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope, giving Jamie hers, which she hid undernieth her t-shirt and then left the kitchen. *

"Smart." Said Remus. Harry was playfully glaring at her. "You couldn't have warned me to do the same?" He asked. "What would be the fun in that?" She asked with a wink.

*Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.

"Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk…"

"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"

Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter,which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.

"That's mine!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back.

"Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.

"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.

Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.

"Vernon! Oh my goodness — Vernon!"*

"They don't seem too pleased about the letter," Remus chuckled.

"No, and it only made me want to read it more," Harry said.

*They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.

"I want to read that letter," he said loudly."I want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's mine."

"Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.

Harry didn't move.

"I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.

"Let me see it!" demanded Dudley.

"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole. Dudley won, so Harry,his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.

"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address — how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"

"Watching — spying — might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.

"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want —"

Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.

"No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer… Yes, that's best… we won't do anything…"

"But —"

"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"

That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.

"Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?" Jamie rolled her eyes as she read a book on her bed. She had read her letter and hidden it. She wasn't going to tell Harry though.*

"Why?" Asked nearly everyone in the room. She held up a finger and pointed at George so, he continued reading.

*That's what he got for being so thick.*

"That's not fair." Whined Harry. "It was funny though. You coming up with stupid little plans, only to get caught, while I'm making things float around the room when you're not looking." Jamie replied. The Marauders, Fred, George and Ron laughed at her while the others didn't really know what to think. Except Hermione of course, she was giving her a disapproving look.

*"No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly.

"I have burned it."

"It was not a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."

"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. Jamie brushed them off her without even looking up from the page she was on.

He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.

"Er — yes, Harry, Jamie — about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking… you're really getting a bit big for it… we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom." Jamie eyebrows rose into her hairline as she slowly turned to face Vernon.

"Why?" Said Harry.*

"Why are you questioning it?" Asked Fred. He was ignored.

*"**Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."**

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. It only took Harry and Jamie one trip upstairs to move everything they owned from the cupboard to this room. They sat down on the beds and looked around them. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favorite program had been cancelled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched. Jamie went straight over there and started looking through them. "oh, cool." She mumbled to herself as she picked up a book and flopped down on her bed.**

"you're a book worm, aren't you?" Asked Remus with a wide smile that was mirrored on Lily's face. "Yeah, I am. Minnie loves me coz I'm like you, Remus. With a little bit more of a devil streak." Jamie answered. Remus and the other Marauders smiled at her. George then continued reading with a small, fond smile on his face.

A/N: I'm really sorry that this has taken so long and I know it's not a full chapter but, I thought I should give you something! If I don't get enough reviews though, I will not continue! I wont tell you how many I want so, review and see what happens. Hope you like it.


	3. Chapter 3

Important AN!

I'm so so so so so so sorry for not updating! I'm having a lot of trouble with my internet at the moment and It's lucky I could even get this up! My brother is down here for a while and he's going to try and fix it but if he can't then we'll have to get a new broadband thing and that may take a while! I'm really sorry but it cannot be helped, please forgive me? I really hope to get it sorted soon but I don't know when it will get fixed so bare with me. Again, I'm really sorry and I hope you can forgive me!

Blacksgurl525xxxx


	4. Chapter 4

YES! I finally got to update! I'm sooooo sorry for those who have been waiting for a long time but my internet has been a nightmare! Please forgive me? Anyway, I received some advice for this story so, hopefully, it will be better now. If you remember correctly, There was only half a chapter in the last update (Again, I'm really sorry) so, I'm going to just carry straight on from where I left off.

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't want them in there... I need that room... make them get out..."**

"What a spoiled brat!" Exclaimed Lily.

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it. Jamie was lying down on the floor, reading a book she had picked from the shelves. **

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back. Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.**

**When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one!'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive -'"**

"If he wanted to read the letter, why did he say that?" Remus asked. "Well, he's not very bright see, Remmy." Jamie answered. The others couldn't help but agree.

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind.**

"Getting in a little practice there, Harry?" Asked Ron. Hermione and Jamie started laughing quietly while Harry smiled. "The neck was about the same size too." He replied. The Marauders and Lily looked confused.

**After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.**

**"Go to your cupboard - I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley - go - just go."**

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again. And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan. This was when Jamie walked in the room. He told her he had a plan, to which she laughed. "Good luck with that, your plans stink." She told him.**

"It's true, the only time his plans actually work is when he's under pressure and even then something always goes wrong." Commented Hermione. "That sounds like James! Never, and I do mean _never,_ trust his plans. That's why Remus is the brains behind the marauders." Sirius explained. "You're not much better Padfoot. How many times have I had to put right what went wrong when _you_ had a plan?" James asked. Jamie and Harry shared a look but decided not to say anything. "You've been awfully quiet, Peter. Are you okay?" Lily asked. "I'm fine." He replied. "I think he's a little scared of Jamie." Sirius said. "I don't blame him." Lily agreed. "Hey!" Jamie exclaimed. "You can be a little scary Jamie." Said Fred. Jamie crossed her arms and fell back against George.

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys or Jamie. She'd give him hell.**

"Not much of a morning person, are you?" George asked her with a cheeky grin. "I am sometimes, just not at 6 in the morning." She answered.

**He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights.**

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first.**

**His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door - Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat - something alive! Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face.**

The whole room erupted in laughter. Harry had told Jamie what happened but, it was still funny.

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap.**

**Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

**"I want -" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes. Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.**

**"See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't deliver them they'll just give up."**

**"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

**"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

"Thank Merlin for that." Said Lily.

**Jamie had walked down the stairs at this point (She had just finished another book) and she gave him a very weird look before going to find Harry. **

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom.**

"**Why aren't they writing to you anymore?" Harry asked Jamie.**

"**I have no idea. Perhaps they were intimidated by my awesomeness." She replied.**

A few people laughed at this.

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises. **

"Wow, he's paranoid." Said Hermione.

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.**

**"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly." Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

"Ginny." Said the three Weasley brothers. Harry went bright red while Jamie tried to cover up her laugh.

On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.

**"No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today -" Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one. **

"Why didn't you just pick one up off the ground?" Snape asked.

**"Out! OUT!" Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall. Jamie just walked out casually and went upstairs.**

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor. **

**"That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his moustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!" He looked so dangerous with half his moustache missing that no one dared argue. Harry ran up the stairs to find Jamie already packing. "What? You think I didn't hear that lunatic?" She asked when he gave her a funny look. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway.**

**Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

"Ha! The pig deserved it!" Exclaimed James.

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while. "Shake'em off... shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

"Welcome to our world." Said Harry.

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley, Jamie and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering...**

**Jamie was asleep in the second bed, curled up into a ball.**

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.**

**"'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter. Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk." She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

**Mr. H. Potter**

**Room 17**

**Railview Hotel**

**Cokeworth**

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

**"I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.**

**"Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear." Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.**

**"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.**

"It must have been bad if that great lump has noticed." Fred stated.

**Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared.**

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley snivelled.**

**"It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television. "**

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday - and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week, because of television - then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday.**

Fred, George, Jamie, James and Sirius burst into the happy birthday song, making Harry go bright red while Lily laughed.

**Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun - last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.**

"That's horrible!" Lily shouted in rage. James put his arm around her to try and calm her down.

**Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling.**

"This cannot be good." Said Remus. Harry and Jamie looked at him, shaking their heads.

**He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

**"Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!" It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

**"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!" A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old row boat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.**

"That is not safe!" Lily shouted.

**"I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!" It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.**

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.**

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas.**

"Those aren't rations!" Shouted James, Sirius and Ron.

**He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shrivelled up.**

**"Could do with some of those letters now, eh." he said cheerfully.**

"What a git." Said George and Sirius. They gave each other a strange look.

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few mouldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry and Jamie were left to find the softest bit of floor they could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket. They huddled together for warmth.**

A few growls were heard.

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.**

**Jamie was lying on her stomach. The floor was completely covered in grey dust. She started drawing something in the dust and Harry realized that she had drawn him a cake with 11 candles that said 'Happy Birthday'. She just wished she could have given him the real thing.**

Harry gave Jamie a hug, which she returned. "You were more than enough." He told her.

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did. He hugged Jamie closer to him to try and get warmer.**

**Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.**

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds... twenty... ten... nine - maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him**

"DO IT!" Shouted Fred, George, James and Sirius. Again, George and Sirius gave each other weird looks.

**- three... two... one...**

**BOOM.**

Everyone jumped and glared at George who sat there with an innocent smile. "You know that never works on me right?" Asked Jamie. "Unfortunately." He replied.

**The whole shack shivered and Harry and Jamie sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"That's the end of the chapter." Said George.

"I'll read next." Said Sirius.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey everyone! I'm sorry this isn't a chapter but I promise I am working on them but, I've grown a liking to using notebooks so, I'm writing in them and then redoing them on my computer so it will take a while! If I haven't updated by the 10__th__ of August, please message me and tell me to get a move on (nicely). I have just made a poll on my profile and I would very much appreciate it if you could help me out by voting! I cannot decide what to do!_

_Hope to be updating soon_

_**xRebelWithACauseToBeFreex**_


	6. Chapter 6

Come on guys! Fred/George and Charlie are tied in my poll! I need Voters!


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